Gay activists in South Africa have welcomed the life sentence handed down to a man for the killing and gang rape of lesbian football star Eudy Simelane. Ms Simelane was one of the first women to live openly as a lesbian in KwaThema township near Johannesburg.

Hundreds of serious cases of violence against women were recorded in Mauritania between 2007 and 2009, the Chairperson of the Association to fight Against Dependence (ALCD-RIHAB), Mrs. Fatimetou Mint Ahmed Jiddou, has disclosed.

In many African communities, women struggle to feed their households. The situation is worse when husbands migrate seeking better opportunities, or are absent completely, for one reason or another. Across Southern Africa, groups of mostly women farmers are turning back to traditional food crops in hopes of better food security for their families, and finding economic independence at the same time.

My name is Mubayandi Kwiima.* I am 39-years-old and a mother of five. I’m the second wife in the polygamous marriage of three wives. I work as a clerk at one of the government ministries in Zambia. My story started in 1989 when I got married to a man who presented himself to me as a single man. My parents accepted his gesture and allowed him to marry me after he had paid dowry as per our Tonga tradition.

Although still widely practiced both in Africa and around the world, the practice of polygamy is seldom spoken of. Just in time for South Africa’s Heritage Day, celebrated on 24 September, Gender Links has launched a new publication of personal accounts – “I” Stories – Polygamy: The Heart of the Matter. In South Africa, the issue leapt to center stage during the run up to the 2009 presidential elections. The sudden interest was not surprising - after all, how many countries have a polygamous president in its highest offices?

With the in Geneva due to consider calls for re-eliminating laws discriminating against women next week, Faiza Mohamed urges Pambazuka News readers to petition their governments to support the mandate. Please read the full letter for details of how to contact your representatives.

AIDS activists around the world have welcomed a new UN General Assembly resolution to create a single agency to promote the rights and wellbeing of women, which they say is good news for women, who are bearing the brunt of the global AIDS pandemic. "This is a historic opportunity to advance the rights of women and girls," said UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibé in a statement.

On the day of the sentencing of the seven of eight men who gang-raped Buyisiwe, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) activists and members of the Joint Working Group (JWG), a network of LGBTI organisation South Africa came in numbers in support of the 1 in 9 Campaign. “Though the matter is not directly LGBTI - related, many members of the 070707 campaign have been very involved in the case as members of 1 in 9 Campaign”, said JWG co-ordinator Emily Craven.

Women need to get involved more actively and more equally in the reform of the security sector in post-conflict states, says Ecoma Alaga, a Gender and Security Sector Reform (SSR) expert of the Women Peace and Security Network Africa. Alaga presented a policy paper in a seminar on SSR and the Protection of Women in Africa on Tuesday, which was attended by leading experts in the field of gender, peacekeeping and SSR.

In the Niassa province of northwest Mozambique, one doctor has been working with local communities to overcome the delays responsible for three-quarters of maternal deaths each year. Dr Peg Cumberland, a slim, energetic English woman, has worked in Mozambique for over 13 years. She came to the Niassa region in 2004 when she heard that the community was asking for assistance.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the death threats issued against Kadi Adzuba and Delphine Namuto of Radio Okapi and Jolly Kamuntu of the privately-owned radio station, Radio Maendeleo, who were all threatened through an unknown SMS in Bukavu, capital of South Kivu province in the east of DRC.

How can the EU and other donors support increased women’s political participation in post-conflict situations? What can be done to ensure that this results in meaningful change for women in general? This paper from the Initiative for Peacebuilding recommends practical strategies for the EU and other donors to guide the consideration of gender issues into their post-conflict governance interventions.

This Bulletin began in response to news reports of “corrective” and “curative” gang rapes of lesbians in South Africa. These were then followed by news reports of a study in South Africa that found that one in four men in South Africa had committed rape, many of them more than once. We wanted to bring together concerned Africa scholars and committed African activists and practitioners, to help contextualize these reports.

Leading to Choices, developed by the Women's Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace (WLP) in collaboration with its partner organizations in the Global South, is based on a conceptualization of leadership as horizontal, inclusive, and participatory. WLP views leadership as a process that leads to greater choices for all by fostering communication among individuals who learn from each other, create a shared vision, and reach a common goal forged by consensus.

"Government must lead in breaking down the stereotypes of women as tuck-shop owners, candle-makers, peasant farmers, teachers and nurses and create the reality in which they become hoteliers, large-scale commercial farmers, miners and proprietors of retail chains." These were the words of Zimbabwe’s vice president Joyce Mujuru addressing a women’s investment conference held in Harare on Sep 4. The conference was attended by South African and Zimbabwean businesswomen.

The Professional Women, Executives and Businesswomen’s Forum (PROWEB) organised a unique investment conference last week in Zimbabwe’s capital where businesswomen from South Africa and Zimbabwe got the opportunity to not only network but forge what may be a unique African association among businesswomen across national borders. The conference resolved, among others, to create an executive committee that will pursue women’s economic empowerment in both southern African countries.

For Katriena Anthony, being four months pregnant comes with hazards particular to her living conditions. The 38-year-old resident of Mandela Square informal settlement in the rural town of Montague, three hours drive from Cape Town, she lives in a two-roomed shack made of wood and zinc sheets. She has no electricity or running water, and every morning she has to walk long distances to collect wood, while water for drinking and cooking must be carried to her home from a nearby tap in a plastic bucket.

Though political instability, violence and chaos surround them, surgeons and backup teams dedicated to ending the misery of obstetric fistula continue their work in the failed state of Somalia. The gratitude of their patients keeps them going in the most desperate of situations.

The Zimbabwe Women Resource Centre and Network (ZWRCN) is seeking a competent, experienced and self motivated individual for the position of Programme Assistant – Gender HIV & Aids (GHIVA) Programme. WRCN is offering a competitive package for the candidate with the right qualifications and experience. Applications with certified copies of certificates, CV and other relevant documents must clearly state the position applied for and should be submitted no later than 6th September 2009.

I’ve recently been on two dates where the men asked me what I want in a man. Confidently I replied “a self-sufficient and self-assured man who doesn’t feel the need to maintain me, a pro-feminist who supports, and feels the feminist movement is a worthy cause that should be upheld in our relationship and society at large, an open minded man whom reading books is a lifestyle and a man who is able to move between masculine and feminine traits with great fluidity.”